The Love Rivals
by Dark Shining Light
Summary: one-shot. After a discussion with Juvia, Natsu thinks he has a lot of potential love rivals. Nalu


"The Love Rivals"

By Dark Shining Light

Pairing: Lucy and Natsu

Romance/Humor

Rated T (for the one swear one that exists in this story)

Summary: one-shot. After a discussion with Juvia, Natsu realizes he has a lot of potential love rivals. Nalu

(I do NOT Own Fairy Tail)

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><p>How could he have missed it?!<p>

No wonder they called him dense! I mean, it was so obvious right?

How could he have missed that everyonewas trying to get with _his_ Luce!

Thankfully Juvia opened his eyes before one of the bastards snatched Lucy away! Sure she was crazy about accusing Lucy of being interested in the pervy popsicle (as if Lucy would be interested in a snowman) but when he started to think about it, he realized it was actually Gray who harbored feelings for the blonde!

It made sense: He always sat next to Lucy on their missions, forcing him to sit next to Erza. He liked to pet her head affectionately and make comments with her whenever something crazy happened. When she mentioned that she felt like someone was stalking her, the ice mage secretly followed her to make sure she was okay (it wasn't Gray's job, it was his!). He's tried to catch her multiple times and didn't Gemini say something about him thinking she was cute, and somewhat interested in her?

Then, Natsu had been left stunned when he realized something else. What if it wasn't just the popsicle? Was it possible that he had other competition?

In his simple mind, the answer was yes.

After the ice mage, there was Loke, who was always declaring his love for the blonde….which meant he was definitely a love rival! How did he not see it before? The celestial spirit vowed to be her knight in shining armor (which was stupid in his eyes cause dragons are obviously better) and has saved her multiple times (but not as many times as him of course.)

Then there was that one guy….Dam…or Dang…something Straight jacket (-cough- Dan Straight.) That guy had to be one of the most annoying people he had ever met! He ignored the dragon slayer and tried to marry _his _Luce…not that he had a chance or anything, Lucy made that clear…but still! He was a love rival!

There was also Metal brows (yeah he knows what you're thinking but why else would he call her bunny girl if he didn't like her? Especially since Luce is clearly the better nickname.)

Laxus…well Mira did say that he would only help against the Phantom invasion if Lucy became his girlfriend (and if Cana showed him her boobs; you seem to have quite the selective memory Natsu…)

He was about to cross Jellal off his love rival list when he remember how he found future Lucy first. Who's to say he wasn't looking for the real Lucy?!

And what about Sting? They're both blondes right?

Oh and Rogue! One of the worst! Acting all shy and pretty boyish. LLLaaameeee!

Also, who said his competition was only males? There was Virgo (who called her princess and rather liked attending to Lucy's needs...then again, she was weird–shudder-)…and maybe Flare. (No bad Natsu, he scolded; Lucy obviously likes men. She wouldn't always complained about not having a boyfriend if she didn't) Sigh. At least he can cross off the women off his love rival list.

However, he was still left with an unresolved issue. If all these guys liked Lucy that meant the blonde can still choose from one of them. So which one would she pick?

….

….

Shit.

"Lllllluuuccccyyyy!" The pink haired teen whined as he ran to her apartment.

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><p>"LUCY!" Natsu yelled as he entered through her window, causing the poor girl to scream from her writing desk and throw her pen into the air. She turned her chair around so that she could face her partner and glare at him for almost giving her a heart-attack.<p>

"Natsu! What the-"

"Tell me who you're picking!"

"You don't go-wait what?" The celestial mage blinked.

"And who I have to beat up!"

"What are you rumbling-!"

"WHO'S MY LOVE RIVAL LUCY!" The dragon slayer inquired in a frustrated tone. That question definitely left the girl baffled. A lovely tone of red spread across her face and she stuttered to get her next sentence out.

"What…what are you talking about?" The brown eyed female demanded.

"My love rival!" Sheesh, didn't she hear him? "Juvia said you were her love rival cause you were competing for the ice princess or something like that and I said she was crazy cause you spend all your time with me but then I realized it was the pervert who wanted you all to himself since he's always nice and stuff. But then I figured there's more guys who want your attention but I don't know which one is my TRUE love rival so you need to tell me who it is so I can go and beat them up!"

The small apartment was met with more silence. Natsu was expecting her to 'Lucy-kick' him out the window after seeing how frustrated she was. However, she only sighed and ran a hand through her bangs. "Do…do you even know what a love rival is." She asked with tints of pink still on her cheeks.

"Of course I do." What a weird question. "It's when someone tries to steal your most precious person away."

With his enhanced hearing, he heard her heartbeat increase and didn't know if that was a good or bad thing. Though he did admit the red on her face did make her look cute.

"Ahh…well that's kind of right I guess." Lucy mumbled before looking at him. "Why don't you tell me who you think your love rivals are and I'll tell you if you're right or wrong, deal?"

Natsu frowned; so there was a love rival. "The ice princess."

She rolled her eyes. "He might be your rival in guild brawls but he definitely isn't your love rival. Gray is like a close brother to me; nothing more, nothing less."

He accepted her answer. "Loke."

Lucy laughed. "He's a celestial spirit. We couldn't date even if he was serious. He just likes to tease me. I only see him as a close friend and a reliable ally. You don't have to worry about him."

The male let out a breath of relief. "Ok…then that weird Damn Strange?"

"Dan Straight?"

"Yeah. Him!"

"You know I think he's a creep right?"

Natsu blinked and formed an 'O' with his mouth. "Ohhh yeah…then what about metal brows?"

"Seriously?" She raised an eyebrow. "Anyone with a pair of eyes can see he's head over heels for Levy."

"But he calls you bunny girl?! What else was I supposed to think when he gave you a nickname?" He defended himself.

"I don't know!" The girl exclaimed "But he definitely doesn't like me in that way!"

The pink haired teen let out an annoyed growl. "Fine. Jellal?"

"Really? I'm 200% certain he likes Erza."

"Right…the monster…"

"Natsu!"

"What?!" He pouted before continuing. "Then what about other dragon slayers?"

"Be specific because you better not be implying Wendy." Lucy commented, looking repulsed.

Natsu looked equally disgusted. "No! Gross! What's wrong with you weirdo!"

The celestial wizard looked away in embarrassment. "You're the weird one! How am I supposed to know what you're thinking?"

"I was talking about that bastard Laxus and the Sabertooth ones!"

"Ohh…" He waited for her to answer his question. "Laxus isn't my type of guy." She leaned in closer. "Personally, I think he's more of Mira's." Why she had whispered he'd never know. It's not like anyone else could hear them. "And as for Sting and Rogue, they're both cute in their own ways but why would I want two idiot dragon slayers when I can have one?"

"Really?" Natsu exclaimed; the bright smile on his face disappeared when he realized she insulted him as well. "Hey!"

The blonde laughed. He pouted and tried to ignore how wonderful her laugh was (he failed be the way.) "So…you don't like any of them?"

"Nope."

"No one outside the guild?"

"Correct."

"And in the guild?"

"Well…" Her voice trailed, making the male feel uncomfortable. He heard her heart beat faster and the color pink returned to her cheeks. She grinned in an embarrassed manner. "Let's just say, no one tops you as my most precious person either."

She gave him a warm smile that would have put his heart at ease if it weren't for the fact that he was bubbling with excitement.

"So…I don't have a love rival?!"

Lucy chuckled. "No, you don't!"

"YES!" He cheered. "I DON'T HAVE A LOVE RIVAL!"

The dragon slayer pulled the girl out of her chair and into his arms as he clumsily danced around with her. "I don't have a love rival Lucy!"

She laughed even harder. "I just told you that you idiot!"

He only laughed with her. "I don't have a love rival!" He exclaimed again.

The two continued their dance for another moment before Natsu stopped. The girl was still grinning but he could see that she was curious to why he stopped dancing with her.

"You know," He flashed her one of his famous canine smiles. "You don't have a love rival either Luce."

The blonde's face flushed with so much color and he sworn he saw steam come out her ears. "Sh-shut up."

Natsu laughed again. This was definitely one of his best days ever. He had no love rival…he had no love rival…which meant that all of Lucy's love was his; like it should be.

So how could he have missed that?

(Oh right because of Juvia…)

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><p><strong>Please Read<strong>

**[Sorry but I just have to rant right now so please bear with me. This wasn't even supposed to be part of my author's notes but I'm just so fed up I have to speak]**

**I'm noticing a lot of authors (who I admire and have praised their work) are being hypocritical by asking for reviews in their stories yet _not_ leaving reviews for others. If you know how important feedback is then why aren't you giving it away? I understand that sometimes you forget or don't have time but when I see you're adding multiple works of an author to your favorite/follow list, it's not that you don't have time; it's just that you don't care about helping the other author. **

**I probably sound like a jerk but I'm tired of seeing so many good but lesser known authors being unappreciated. I favored this one story where the author has less than 10 chapters, around 70 reviews and almost 200 follows?! That doesn't add up! Why aren't more people giving her feedback?! There's also this other story I love; it's a one-shot, has less than 10 reviews but over 100 favorites?! Why didn't more people compliment her on her work? If they did I bet she'd still be writing. Oh and this one takes the cake: a one-shot, 30 favorites, not a single review. 30 people favored her work yet no one told her why they liked it. I was the first and only person to review and want to know how I know she appreciated my comments? Because she emailed me the next day thanking me. **

**I'm being harsher towards the authors who don't like to review yet want people to review their own stories because they understand how important feedback is and for them to demand it yet not give it away is very selfish. We're a community and we should be supporting each other and not just ourselves. **

**For those authors and readers who do leave reviews, thank you. I can say that for a lot of people (ask AbsentAngel, the amazing author of "Ignite." She has other work that's just as great so check her out! The reason I mention her is because we had conversation about this and both agreed this favoring/following without helping the author has to stop)**

**Again, sorry for the rant; especially if you're a person who does support other authors by reviewing/sending PMs. But I just had to leave this out there. I hope you don't think any less of me, especially since I might just add this note in some of my other stories. **

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><p><strong>I admit this is one of my shorter stories and not one of my best; but it was only because it was short that I was able to write this. My second week of class already passed and I already I have so many assignments do. The one time I can write is either in between classes or on Fridays (when I don't have school and am not so much in a hurry to finish my homework.)<strong>

**I put that Natsu wouldn't remember Dan Straight's name cause I can actually imagine him forgetting it. Maybe it's because he's the only "rival" who doesn't appear in the manga, I don't know XD **

**Thank you to those who have been so kind to review my last Nalu one-shot. As always, you inspire me to do more! And thank you if you have reviewed/followed/favored one of my Nalu stories. Means the world when you do this.**

**Please leave a review with your thoughts. I love reading what you guys think and this goes for all my stories (just because I updated a story a month ago doesn't mean I'm dead; I'll still read your feedback.) **

**Thank you for reading this and if you're bored feel free to check out my other Nalu one-shots if you haven't already :)**

**Until then,**

**your friend,**

**Dark Shining Light**


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